Real estate broker Deborah Morton argues that in Georgia, the difference between a basic agent and a full service advisor can show up in everything from your stress level to your final sales price. On Inside Georgia Real Estate on WSB Radio, she uses a blown tire, a car dealership, and a cross country move to explain what real service looks like when you are buying or selling. For Georgia homeowners who have not moved in years, the stakes are higher than they think.
Key Takeaways for Georgia Real Estate
Full service means 360 degree client care, not just unlocking doors or posting a listing.
Big life moves, especially after decades in a home, are emotional and complicated.
Help with financing, movers, insurance, taxes, and vetted vendors is part of the value.
Fees are negotiable, and not every agent provides the same level of work.
A "home report card" style self check can help sellers fix issues before they hit the market.
Unique properties, like historic land, need research and the right niche buyer.
What This Means for Homebuyers
Morton opens with her own morning: a flat tire on the way to the studio, a stop at a car show, and then Audi Marietta stepping in so she could still make it on time. She calls them "full service" and says that is the standard she expects in her own business. In real estate, that means understanding whether someone is buying, selling, investing, or just starting to think about a move and then wrapping support around that.
For buyers, especially those relocating from somewhere like St. Louis to be closer to grandchildren in metro Atlanta, it is not just "look online, find a house, go buy it." A full service broker factors in lifestyle, timing, financing, and the emotions of leaving a home after forty years.
What Sellers Need to Know
Morton draws a sharp line between agents who simply put a sign in the yard and those who bring a full team. She talks about technology support, skilled contract negotiation, and a bench of vendors behind her, including staging, contract management, roofing, and septic experts. She notes that "you are going to pay anyway" for real estate, car service, or septic work, so the real question is whether you are in the hands of people with integrity who serve at a high level.
On her website, InsideGeorgiaRealEstate.com, homeowners can download a one page "home report card" to grade their own property. If you walk through and see C, D, or even F level items like a fallen fence, a broken garage door opener, an outdated kitchen, or burned laminate countertops, you have a chance to fix them before photos and showings. Her point is simple: homes in good condition sell faster and for more money.
Impact on Long Time Homeowners
Many of the people Morton meets have not moved in decades. They may have handled a transaction on their own twenty years ago, before today's technology and pace, and it worked out fine. Now, at a different stage of life, the organizing, packing, and logistics are harder. For older sellers in particular, she argues that paying for a full service advisor who manages details and vendors is worth it, because "everything is baked into the cost anyway."
She also pushes back on the idea that all realtors get paid the same regardless of service level. A recent class action lawsuit highlighted how commissions and practices are changing. Morton stresses that compensation has always been negotiable, and that she is "fundamentally against" high pay for low effort.
Pricing Unique or Historic Land
One caller, Steve from Franklin, owns eleven acres in Heard County that include a Native American solstice marker, a type of monument used as a calendar. The county tax appraisal shows a value of 107,000 dollars, but he has no idea how to price the land with such a rare feature.
Morton calls the property "fascinating" and says that something like this requires research and targeted marketing, possibly including historical organizations. She compares it to swimming pools: some buyers will pay more for a great pool, others will not touch a house that has one. The solstice marker will attract a specific kind of buyer, and the strategy should focus on reaching them.
The Bottom Line
Morton's message is that full service is not a label, it is an approach. From the first conversation through long after closing, a real advisor takes your whole life into account and makes sure you are not left figuring things out alone. If you are thinking about moving, start by asking any agent exactly which services they provide, which vendors they trust, and how they will help you raise your own "home report card" grade before you ever hit the market.